How much do you pay per year for your collection?

[Funke910]

Food is about $20 a month so 240$ a year.
Bedding is super cheap (coco coir) 16$ a year
Cleaning supplies (disinfectant, rags, brushes and such) a year 75$
Power is about 1000$ a year for a single rack and 6 enclosures.
Medical 250$ a year. I do fecal every year or 18 months on all of mine (DIY fecal exams) but I set the 250$ aside in case it is needed some years I spend it some I don't, but I gives me medical money when and if needed.

So for 11 snakes about $1581 a year. Just under $150 per snake per year.

1000 a year for power? That seems like a ton for one rack. How did you figure this out? I would be curious to know what I'm spending. Thanks.

[BFE Pets]

-rat food & bedding $25 a month (breed my own & buy in bulk)
-electric $80 a month extra
-cleaning supplies $20 a month
-bedding free (newspaper)
-my wife's & my time (do it for free, love the animals)
-30 bp's constant and what ever hatchlings coming and going
-11 leopard geckos
-2 Beardies
-beardie veggies $15 a month
-crickets $10 a month
-meal worms $10 every 3 or 4 months when we run out or the beetles get old and gotta start over lol
You can add it up I dont think I wanna know cuz then the wife will want to take it out of the profits if its too much. lol

[Wes]

I have 20 snakes all together. 17 Ball Pythons, 2 Carpets, and 1 corn snake.

$175 every 6 months for f/t rats = $350 yearly
also breed some rats = $80 yearly
Paper Towels for bedding = $60+/- yearly
Cleaning supplies = $60+/- yearly
Electricity = $100+/- yearly

Total = $650 +/- yearly

@kitedemon - at your power bill... My power bill for the year for my entire house is only about $2000.

[kitedemon]

That is actually quite easy my snakes were for a while at my studio. When my bussiness changed (photo biz has changed massivly in the last 10 years ) I know what my average power bill was and how large a jump it was when I brought them home. The one rack and 6 enclosures bumped up the power bill from about 30$ a month to 112$ roughly. That is just under 1000$ where I am power is very expensive I use about 640 Kw/hr per month. There is taxes in there someplace... I didn't figure that it just is what it is. It is about 18¢ per Kw/hr.

[tigwelder84]

Spend about 1100 a year on rats
about 100 on bedding
20-30 on cleaning supplies
My power is only about 1600 a year for the whole house
then gas to go to get rats lol
then heat tape for new racks to come

[heathers*bps]

Dannnnnnng, I wish we had all you guys electric bill. Ours is like $350-$400 a month!

Then again, we have over 100 reptiles.....not saying they are the entire reason its that high, but its a good chuck of it!

[coldbloodaddict]

Dannnnnnng, I wish we had all you guys electric bill. Ours is like $350-$400 a month!

Then again, we have over 100 reptiles.....not saying they are the entire reason its that high, but its a good chuck of it!

Mine was almost $800 last month...I'll take 3-400 anytime! LOL

[Robyn@SYR]

Electric was often $2000 a month in our facility, and could be $2500+ in the winter months.

I was always jealous of those Florida breeders who kept open air facilities, paying $100 a month for incidental use : )

[Don]

To me, it isn't so much about the cost. I spend at least a couple grand a year on maintenance. The more expensive commodity is time. Between rats and snakes, it takes a LOT of time. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it.

This last weekend, after working a 50 hour week, my son had an emergency that landed us in the hospital for the entire weekend. I came home late yesterday and as exhausted as I was had to go spend an hour and a half in the reptile and rodent rooms.

Time is more valuable to me than the cost of maintenance of the collection. So, be sure to calculate both money and time involved.

[Mike41793]

To me, it isn't so much about the cost. I spend at least a couple grand a year on maintenance. The more expensive commodity is time. Between rats and snakes, it takes a LOT of time. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it.

This last weekend, after working a 50 hour week, my son had an emergency that landed us in the hospital for the entire weekend. I came home late yesterday and as exhausted as I was had to go spend an hour and a half in the reptile and rodent rooms.

Time is more valuable to me than the cost of maintenance of the collection. So, be sure to calculate both money and time involved.

Well said. Definetly a different way to look at it!